jimbartlett Posted June 27, 2016 Share Posted June 27, 2016 Picked the Gem Saturn B50 up yesterday off Spencer on here, plugged it into my DB212 and couldn't be happier. Some lovely vintage tones coming out of this thing and coupled with my Gibson Thunderbird, I'm in heaven. Can't wait to try it at gig volume tomorrow night! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
discreet Posted June 27, 2016 Share Posted June 27, 2016 Wow, that looks great. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Truckstop Posted June 27, 2016 Share Posted June 27, 2016 I had one for a short period (maybe this is the same one?) which I had Mr. Foxen look at for me as it had a few problems when I got it. Massive amounts of bass on tap and although there's not much treble available, the mids really shine through and you can nail vintage tone. Loads of volume too, surprisingly so! Is there a jack socket in the back? If so, it'll be my old one. They were originally manufactured with an attached speaker cable which was a bit dodgy. Miss it a little bit actually, sounded like nothing else! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimbartlett Posted June 27, 2016 Author Share Posted June 27, 2016 Yep that's the one, it has a jack socket in the back. Channel 2 seems like a guitar Channel than a bass one. Channel one is awesome though. The Aguilar cab must help with the treble because I don't have any problem (so far) but you are dead right on the bass/mid on tap. Love it and I can't wait for tomorrow night to use it in anger with the band. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beer of the Bass Posted June 27, 2016 Share Posted June 27, 2016 Looks like fun - I like weird old valve amps. Do these have a transistor input stage like the Gem guitar amps do? If so, the lack of treble Truckstop mentions might be down to a low input impedance which causes passive instruments to lose high-end. It seems to be a common issue with transistor preamps of this era - I've had a couple of old ss pre/valve powered Dynacord amps with the same thing going on. Running a buffer in front (like a Boss pedal in bypass mode) livens up the response of the Dynacords, so it might be worth trying with this amp. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimbartlett Posted June 27, 2016 Author Share Posted June 27, 2016 Good advice, thank you, I'll give that a go and see what difference it makes. It's the same as the guitar by the sounds of your description (ss pre/ 4 EL84 power) What did you think of your Dynacords? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Truckstop Posted June 27, 2016 Share Posted June 27, 2016 If memory serves, it's not a full valve amp. It's a very early hybrid, can't remember the configuration though. There was something very odd about the preamp that Mr. Foxen discovered but can't remember what it was. Oh well, it sounds boss so never mind! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimbartlett Posted June 27, 2016 Author Share Posted June 27, 2016 If you happen to have a eureka moment and remember, could you please let me know what it was he found out? Thanks! My Dad is having a look tonight at the insides. He worked for years and years with valves, circuits and electronics in the 70's and early 80's so he's always a good consultant to me on stuff like this :-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dosi Y'Anarchy Posted June 27, 2016 Share Posted June 27, 2016 Ive got a Gem m.bass.30 downstairs, just bass, treb and volume controls, two inputs (low and high). Its all sorts of awesome Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimbartlett Posted June 27, 2016 Author Share Posted June 27, 2016 [quote name='Dosi Y'Anarchy' timestamp='1467061715' post='3080958'] Ive got a Gem m.bass.30 downstairs, just bass, treb and volume controls, two inputs (low and high). Its all sorts of awesome [/quote] Love that! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MOSCOWBASS Posted June 28, 2016 Share Posted June 28, 2016 My first amp was a GEM M bass30, back in the 70's. it used to distort after it heated up for a while, i never did find out why. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dosi Y'Anarchy Posted June 28, 2016 Share Posted June 28, 2016 Mine gets pretty damn hot. Thinking about getting it looked at, but i only use it at home and its not on for long periods of time or being cranked. Sounds so great on bass, i even use it on guitar too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimbartlett Posted June 29, 2016 Author Share Posted June 29, 2016 I took it to rehearsal last night and it needs to be cranked to pretty much all the way to be heard. This obviously leads to distortion and a bit too much for the band I tried it with. I've been talking to the guy at AudioStorm about a Hot Box he is making. When it's finished then I'll go from the speaker out on the Gem into the Hot Box which will take the load from the amp and spit out a line level for me to plug into a power amp and into my Aguilar DB212. Boom! Amp Slaving so I can use the Gem as my pre amp for my tone😊 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cosmo Valdemar Posted June 29, 2016 Share Posted June 29, 2016 I wanted this, you beat me to it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimbartlett Posted June 29, 2016 Author Share Posted June 29, 2016 [quote name='Cosmo Valdemar' timestamp='1467214174' post='3082001'] I wanted this, you beat me to it! [/quote] Sorry dude. You can by my Gibson RD Artist if you want though? ;-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Twincam Posted June 29, 2016 Share Posted June 29, 2016 I would like to see a gut shot of the amp if possible. There a gut shot thread here http://basschat.co.uk/topic/73929-amp-guts/page__st__60 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimbartlett Posted June 29, 2016 Author Share Posted June 29, 2016 [quote name='Twincam' timestamp='1467219697' post='3082061'] I would like to see a gut shot of the amp if possible. There a gut shot thread here http://basschat.co.uk/topic/73929-amp-guts/page__st__60 [/quote] Sure thing mate. I'll try and sort this tomorrow night and post it up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimbartlett Posted July 6, 2016 Author Share Posted July 6, 2016 Just got my Dummy Load box through from Rat Electronics and it is perfect! I can crank the amp or have it on a low setting and get all the richness from the valve tone into a line level then into a 1kw power amp. I highly recommend one of these boxes if you have a valve amp without the headroom for a band situation or even if you just fancy playing through you head into headphones at home 😊 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Westenra Posted July 6, 2016 Share Posted July 6, 2016 What is that contraption...? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimbartlett Posted July 7, 2016 Author Share Posted July 7, 2016 Most modern amps have a DI or line out built in but the older ones don't. The problem with this amp was that I loved the tone but to get the volume in a band situation, I was driving it so hard it was majorly distorted, too much for my use. I then thought that if I had a line out or DI I could run that into a power amp instead and then have the volume so I looked around and found this for £55. All hand built here in the UK. It's an attenuator which lowers your amp’s output to line level. When using a tube amp, the speaker dissipates energy from the amp as sound. You must always have a load of some sort connected to your speaker-out jack, or you can severely damage the amp. This safely loads the amp into the box rather than a speaker and gives me a Line Out level (with a level boost toggle) and a Headphone Out (with a level boost toggle). You can also use the Speaker Passthrough so that your amp and speaker work as normal but you can also take a line level out into another amp. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimbartlett Posted July 7, 2016 Author Share Posted July 7, 2016 Oh and I forgot to add that you can crank the gain up and down on your amp to get the tone you want without affecting the overall volume (much). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Westenra Posted July 7, 2016 Share Posted July 7, 2016 So is the line out level a set level? Theoretically could you run a very hot ampeg into this and have it channeled down to a plausible volume? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimbartlett Posted July 7, 2016 Author Share Posted July 7, 2016 (edited) Absolutely, it would do that no problem. It's a set level but also has a set boost in case you need a hotter line out. It works the other way too. If you had a small valve combo you love but it's not loud enough to gig, get one of these and plug the speaker out into in then line into a power amp or the send of another amps effect loop and away you go! They sell different impedance boxes to suit your amp, mine just happens to be 8ohm. Edited July 7, 2016 by jimbartlett Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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